Definition: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

How to Use it Incorrectly

Ever since we learned what a resume was and its importance in the job search, we have been taught to toot our own horns. Obviously, displaying how awesome you are is essential to getting a hiring manager to look twice – but being obvious about it can actually be off-putting, believe it or not. Your goal should be to make your horn so attractive that people are drawn to it without requiring obnoxious pleas for attention.

The art of ‘humble self promotion’ is difficult to grasp because it is done differently for each person, but taking out the ‘humble’ can make you sound like a bad salesman – and that will put off anyone who is looking at your resume.

How to Use it Properly

Going on and on about how motivated you are as a professional doesn’t actually say anything about you without some solid context demonstrating why you think you are a motivated person. If you want to show that you are motivated, a quick description of a time when you overcame several challenges to get something done on time could be very helpful.

Another way to show you are motivated is to say why instead of how. Giving examples of instances when you have shown motivation can take up valuable space on your resume. Instead, you could demonstrate why you are motivated. Maybe you have a career goal you are trying to reach or believe strongly in the social mission of the company you are working for. These things can help to not only eliminate annoying buzzwords, but also humanize you out of a pile of robot resumes.

Asking someone to vouch for you is also a great way to show off your horn without tooting it. Someone else has nothing to gain by praising you. So when your former supervisor takes the time to write a great LinkedIn recommendation about how dedicated and motivated you were to accomplishing your goals, a future hiring manager is bound to take it seriously.

Take Away

Saying that you are motivated tells an employer or potential mentor nothing of substance and makes you sound robotic. Solution: You must prove it with an example, reason, or recommendation. These things will help your work speak for itself and you won’t need cliched buzzwords that people glaze over anyway.

Do you have a resume cliche you’d like to see addressed in this series? Leave a comment below with your word and the Accredibles will decode your cliche as quickly as possible!